Fourth edition of Conference of Protectors of Emigrants held today
Sep 10, 2021
New Delhi [India], September 10 : The fourth Conference of the Protectors of Emigrants was held on 10 September, the day coinciding with the date of enactment of the Emigration Act, 1983, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed on Friday.
MOS for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan delivered the Keynote Address. Observing that the nation has worked together to deal with the challenges of the pandemic, he stated that this is the right time to prepare for the opportunities that are ahead of us in a world that is cautiously returning to normalcy and Protectors of Emigrants (POEs) should facilitate the emigration of blue-collared workers while providing the best possible protection and welfare.
An MEA release said that POEs have an important role to play in informing our youth and workers about new destinations and opportunities, based on the MOU signed with UK on mobility and partnership; the MOC on specified skilled workers with Japan in 14 sectors; and the recent cabinet approval on skilled manpower mobility between India and Portugal.
Efforts to update and refine various welfare schemes such as Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY), Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDoT) and Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), and the eMigrate platform, should continue, the statement said.
Secretary (CPV & OIA), Sanjay Bhattacharyya in his remarks recognised the positive role of our POEs in bringing back thousands of distressed migrant workers from abroad during the pandemic. He mentioned that the eMigrate system, an online platform which integrates POE offices, Passport offices, Indian Missions, Bureau of Immigration and others, regulating overseas employment, is being strengthened by a range of measures to increase its popularity and make it simple and incentivised.
He added that the eMigrate platform has now been opened up to all countries in recognition of new migration corridors to East Asia, Europe and other countries.
In the Plenary Session of the POE Conference, Joint Secretary (Overseas Employment) and Protector General of Emigrants, T. Armstrong Changsan, other officers from MEA and 13 Protectors of Emigrants (POEs), discussed PDoT and other welfare measures, and State Outreach Programme (Videsh Sampark) by MEA to facilitate safe and legal migration.
Later, the representatives of registered Recruiting Agencies' Associations joined the conference to exchange ideas and suggestions on various measures to further strengthen safe and legal migration, and to curb exploitation, cheating and illegal immigration or human trafficking, a topic that Hon'ble MOS and Secretary (CPV & OIA) had stressed upon in their speeches, MEA said.
